Canadian mining company employee arrested in Mali: sources

Text size

Four employees of Canadian mining company Barrick Gold, which owns one of the world's largest gold mining complexes along with the Malian state, were arrested in the African country earlier this week, sources said Saturday.

The arrests come amid growing tensions between the ruling junta and mining companies in the impoverished country.

Mali is a vast West African country that has been ruled by a junta since a coup in 2020. It is struggling with jihadist violence and other crises.

The junta has vowed to ensure that Mali, one of Africa's leading gold producers but also one of the world's poorest countries, receives a fairer distribution of mining revenues.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a judicial source said Saturday that four Canadian Barrick Gold employees were arrested earlier this week, but did not disclose their names, positions or why they were arrested.

Another source close to the company, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said a high bail had been set for the prisoners' release, but did not provide further details.

Barrick Gold holds 80 percent and the Malian state the remaining 20 percent in two companies that own the Loulo-Gounkoto underground and open gold complex in western Mali near the border with Senegal.

In August 2023, Mali passed a new mining law that allows the state to take up to 30 percent stake in new projects.

The reform abolished tax exemptions granted to companies during exploitation.

Barrick Gold, one of the foreign companies that dominate Mali's mining sector, acknowledged tensions with authorities in July without specifying the nature.

“We continue to work constructively toward a global resolution of our differences and find common ground on the key issue of sharing the economic benefits of our operations,” Barrick President and CEO Mark Bristow told local media during a site visit in July.

Bristow said the company has invested more than $10 billion in Mali's economy and its mines account for between five and 10 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).

The increasing pressure on foreign mining companies has coincided with the junta's targeting of Russia and is part of a broader pattern in a part of Africa where France was once a colonial power.

bur-lal/yad/jj